Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Tuesday's Rant: Target's Shrinking Jewelry & Accessories Department

On Tuesdays I sometimes take the opportunity to rant about something I do not like about Target… because although I love ‘em to death, they ain’t perfect. Today I want to rant about Target's Jewelry and Accessories Department, or lack thereof.

The first thing that happened a while ago was the elimination of the glass cases where the 'better jewelry' was kept behind the counter. Then the department started looking much like what you see here, with a dedicated space near the front of the store showcasing a variety of jewelry, watches, and sunglasses, seguewaying into the scarves and handbags nearby.

But now, this entire area has been transformed into what I call the "overflow cheap clothing section". When Summer was in full swing, I thought it was just a way to showcase seasonal clothing like maxi dresses and beach coverups. But now it's morphed into a hodgepodge of Junior-sized clothing with no cohesive theme. Meanwhile, the jewelry has been pushed over near the shoe department and has dwindled in size so much that now it looks like an afterthought. Likewise, the scarves/bags have less of a defined space, and are now more scattered within the women's clothing section. This follows Target's new merchandising strategy to employ "elevated, cross-merchandise product presentations" in order to "amplify Target’s exclusive style assortment across apparel and accessories, home, jewelry and beauty, encouraging guests to browse." However, I find it to be annoying. If I'm looking for a purse, I want to go to the handbag department; I don't want to hunt and peck among multiple departments to find one I like.

4 comments:

Christine said...

You summed up my 'rant' perfectly!
I really don't like the shoes/purses mixed all over the place and the jewelry department.....
Not working for me!!!! I find it all very disconnected. So glad you agree

58 Cherries said...

I agree.

Unknown said...

Yep, agree with above. Once attractive and enticing to browse, the department begun to look like a bad messy clearance section, and that is right as you enter the store. Way to give a first impression! All that horribly cheap fabric/color combo of clothing right at the front.

Handbags and scarves are pushed to the back wall and not presented at all. Collection of handbags is really meh this season design-wise (plus really bad materials, the cheapest they could probably find). Scarves - I buy a few every season - nothing to write home about, plus the price went from $14.99 to $16.99 for the same fabric.

PS. In my closest South Bay store sleepwear section had been moved towards menswear and shrunk too.

Target Addict said...

Unknown: you're right about the sleepwear section shrinking. I noticed that too. The selection of C9 by Champion has also shrunk to make way for the new trendy JoyLab athleticwear line.